Everything in this story was taken from a panel at this year’s Comic Con. Nothing is really set in stone about the plans for the future, and these are all just ideas that have been thrown around by the people who run the convention. Some of these ideas may happen or none of them—it depends on what they actually decide to do in the future. Take the following with a grain of salt.
There is one major plan for next year’s Comic Con. “We have got to go bigger and stronger and grow next year,” said Jared Willardsen, this year’s Director of Operations, at a panel to meet the people in charge of Comic Con. The panel itself was a little light on the people in charge, as they were all currently trying to run the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con.
While the man in charge, Dan Farr, wasn’t there, the panel attendees still got some insight about what work was required to get the convention off the ground and what they want to do for next year.
They also talked about which celebrities they wanted to attract next year. It seems like the big plan, as far as celebrities go, is to get as much of the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as they possibly can. With Jonathan Frakes already planning to attend this year’s convention, but backing out due to Sir Patrick Stewart’s wedding, this may not be such a distant possibility.
There were also mentions of the celebrities that wanted to attend this year but couldn’t due to time conflicts. The list wasn’t terribly long, but it was full of great names that will really attract the crowds if they were to attend next year.
For starters they want to extend Comic Con beyond the boundaries of the convention center in which it is held. They want to start a ‘Week of Comic Con,” with events all around the city for people to attend and build the excitement level throughout the city for the convention. They also hope this idea will allow people to experience Comic Con, even if they can’t buy the tickets.
One idea thrown around for next year was a ZARP, or Zombie Action Role-Play. They talked about having areas set aside within the convention for this game. Convention attendees would play both as zombies and survivors. They talked about having some kind of way to decide which team you are on at the start of the first event.
These were only some of the ideas that were mentioned about next year’s Comic Con. Though this year has just ended, there is a lot of work to do to prepare for next year’s event. With the ideas they have in place, it’s safe to say that next year may out perform this year’s event.
I, for one, can’t wait to see this happen.
